The 51st Regular General Assembly of the members of SEVE - Exporters’ Association, the country’s largest nationwide extroversion body, took place yesterday in Thessaloniki.
The open part of SEVE’s general assembly was held with the participation of the vice president of the government, Kostis Hatzidakis, as the keynote speaker. It was preceded by the closed part for the association’s members, with Georgios Konstantopoulos, honorary president of SEVE, as president of the general assembly, where the activities for the period June 2025 - May 2026 were presented. A greeting was delivered by the representative of the president of PASOK-Movement for Change, Thanasis Glavinas, member of the political council.
The deputy minister of Development, responsible for Research and Innovation, Stavros Kalafatis, referred to the city’s new development identity, the progress of major projects (6th pier of OLTH, Gonou Business Park, railway connections) and specific financing tools. In particular, he focused on the 2.9 billion euros of business liquidity, which is the total amount that has been channeled since 2019 until today exclusively to Thessaloniki’s businesses through ESPA, the Recovery Fund and the Hellenic Development Bank. «
We do not want, nor do we deserve, a Thessaloniki that will simply move other people’s products, but a Metropolis that will produce and export its own innovation. Our goal is to turn research from an academic expense into an export advantage», Mr. Kalafatis underlined.
Within the framework of the open part, the representative of the mayor of Thessaloniki, Spyros Tzelepis, deputy mayor for Innovation, Startup Entrepreneurship, Volunteering and Youth of the municipality of Thessaloniki, stated in his greeting that SEVE finds fertile ground for action in a city that has now raised the bar high, where its rich history dictates. As he noted, Thessaloniki has all the prerequisites to develop into the most important export and transit center of the wider region, into a true metropolis of logistics and extroversion in Southeastern Europe.
The maximum utilization of the port with the expansion of the 6th pier, the strengthening of road and rail connections with the markets of Southeastern Europe, as well as investments in the sectors of logistics and innovation, form a new, dynamic development ecosystem that will benefit all of northern Greece.
The city’s shift toward projects and tangible results was emphasized on his part by the deputy minister of the Interior (Macedonia–Thrace sector), Kostas Gkioulekas, noting that extroversion constitutes the natural extension of Northern Greece’s entrepreneurship. In this context, he referred to the Balkan extroversion tour being implemented with the aim of strengthening cross-border collaborations and turning the region into Europe’s development “locomotive,” noting that the results so far have exceeded every expectation.
In closing, he warmly thanked the president of SEVE, Symeon Diamantidis, for his longstanding support and contribution to this common effort, stressing that new jobs and sustainable development will come through healthy entrepreneurship and not through outdated state-centered development models.
This was followed by the speech of SEVE’s outgoing president, Symeon Diamantidis, who referred to the completion of the term of office of the board of directors and his presidency for the period 2022–2026. Making a brief review, he described as a top moment the celebration of the 50 years since the association’s founding, which was honored with anniversary events, such as the publication of a special volume, the major concert at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, the anniversary general assembly and the official dinner, in the presence of H.E. the president of Parliament, Konstantinos Tasoulas, and the U.S. ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle.
At the same time, Mr. Diamantidis highlighted the most important initiatives of the last four years, mentioning the proposal for the creation of the Freight Center at the former Gonou camp, the creation and international promotion of the collective mark “MACEDONIA THE GREAT,” the actions for the new generation and EPAL students, as well as the expansion of SEVE’s cooperation network through memoranda with universities and institutional bodies. He made special reference to the association’s contribution to the creation of the first Named Chair of Asia Minor Studies in Greece.
The vice president of the government, Kostis Hatzidakis, focused in his speech on the international performance and prospects of the Greek economy, noting that this change is also reflected in its extroversion. «The 46% increase in goods exports from 2019 until today is the result of the effort of Greek businesses and their employees, who sought new markets, invested in quality and turned the crisis into an opportunity.
However, it is also the result of assistance from the State, with the restoration of confidence in the Greek economy, the improvement of the business environment and the substantial support of exporting businesses with specialized financing programs. We are now moving forward with the implementation of the National Extroversion Strategy and the five-year plan drawn up in cooperation with the productive bodies with the aim of increasing goods exports by 45% by 2030 so that we reach 70 billion», he stressed characteristically, underlining the dynamic role of Northern Greece as a natural gateway to the Balkans.
The open part concluded with the presentation of two awards. SEVE’s annual “Golden Alexander” award for 2026 was given to Panagiotis Tsinavos, chairman and chief executive officer of the company KRI KRI MILK INDUSTRY S.A., for his valuable contribution to strengthening extroversion.
«I would like to dedicate this distinction to all those who believe that Greece can create, innovate and lead internationally. Because every export is not simply a business success. It is proof that our country can conquer the place it deserves on the global map», he said. The company, headquartered in Serres and with a history dating back to 1954, recorded sales of 328 million euros in 2025, of which 60% came from exports, which have been growing at an average annual rate of 35% over the last five years.
In addition, SEVE’s honorary vice president, Gedeon Voulis, was proclaimed honorary president of SEVE for his invaluable contribution to the association over 24 years.
On Tuesday, July 7, 2026, the new board of directors will convene to form a body, in order to elect the new president and the members of SEVE’s new administrative committee.
For the audit committee, also with a two-year term, the following were elected: Maria Anastasiadou, Christina Manosi and Efstratios Tsachpinis.
The 51st general assembly finds SEVE at a very high level as the largest, most dynamic and continuously strengthened with new members extroversion body. The new board of directors is expected to continue the important work achieved over the last two years, both on issues of extroversion and international competitiveness and in new sectors, such as employment and the connection of the labor market with education.